SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL

SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Olajuwon Treated For Irregular Heartbeat

Published: November 22, 1991

A day after scoring 25 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a victory over the Knicks in Houston on Tuesday night, Rockets center HAKEEM OLAJUWON developed a rapid irregular heartbeat that was being treated at a Houston hospital yesterday.

The episode kept him out of last night's game against the Timberwolves.

According to General Manager STEVE PATTERSON, the 28-year-old Olajuwon drove himself to a hospital late Wednesday afternoon after experiencing what doctors later determined was atrial fibrillation, a condition characterized by irregular heart palpitations.

"His condition is similar to the episode suffered recently by President Bush," Patterson said, referring to an incident last May. "At this time, he is showing no distress and no damage to his lungs or heart."

Patterson said the doctors had not determined what caused the episode, but that tests had shown there was no connection with a serious bout of phlebitis Olajuwon suffered in 1989.